Updated

Reports from Insider Gaming and other outlets reveal that Ubisoft Milan, the studio behind Mario + Rabbids, had been developing an ambitious Legend of Zelda spin-off internally codenamed 'Goliath' that would have starred series villain Ganondorf as protagonist rather than Link. Nintendo was reportedly initially receptive to the pitch during early development. Nintendo ultimately canceled the project before it progressed far, according to the reports. The revelation highlights how close an outside studio came to putting a fresh spin on the Zelda franchise, and adds to a pattern of scrapped experimental spin-offs at Nintendo.